


Unsolved

by Ellienerd14



Category: Class (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Ghost Hunting AU, Other, Tanya and Matti dream team, The gang are pure, youtube au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-02-14 02:10:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12997536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellienerd14/pseuds/Ellienerd14
Summary: Tanya's still not sure how she became known as the better half of a ghost hunting team.Tanya's a skeptic, Ram's a believer, Matteusz is the world's bravest camera man and April's first ghost hunting trip is a disaster.





	1. Unsolved: Why Ram Can't Find Nicer Friends?

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by buzzfeed unsolved!

Tanya's still not sure how she became known as half of a ghost hunting team. Before 'Unsolved' took off, her gaming-Monday and vlogging-Friday channel had been slowly creeping towards 500 subscribers. 

'Unsolved' had first started as a parody of all the fake ghost hunting shows but when digging into the history of the _supposedly_ haunted locations in London, she'd ended up filming a completely unironic ghost hunting show. Tanya didn't even believe in ghosts herself but somehow her new YouTube series meant her channel rapidly rose to 500,000 new subscribers. 

'Unsolved' had a simple format. Once a month Tanya would film a three-part series on each location with the first part on the history and the second two on her investigating the 'haunted' locations. She didn't do it alone either, she had various 'guest' stars, but most of the time it was Ram who joined het. 

Tanya wasn't sure if it was the fact that Ram had been her best friend since they were in primary school (even if he was two years ahead) or the fact Ram was the biggest scaredy cat ever, but somehow their dynamic worked well enough that it made the series. They hadn't found any proof yet, but given that a large spider made him fall over in shock last episode, it was amusing for her at least. 

It didn't stop him complaining about visiting the Parson House.

"That crosses a line Tan," he moaned at their 'team meeting'. Which was basically them goofing off during free period whilst Matteusz took notes. He somehow ended up being the camera person. (Tanya bribed him the first time with a date with Charlie but he kept offering even after they got together.)

"Look I have the right to sleep over night there and it's the finale of 'Unsolved'. The viewers want the spooks."

"The viewers don't want me to have a heart attack." (Tanya was sure some might want that.) Ram bit on his lip. "I know we joke but I'm pretty sure that house is actually haunted."

"You think everything is haunted," Matteusz pointed out. 

"Ghosts won't hurt you. Please Ram." He wasn't listening; Tanya followed his gaze as April MacLean walked into the room. She was the quiet artsy type, but she still ended up in their group. Ram had a less than subtle thing for her, which mostly showed in him giggling uncontrollably around her. 

"Hey, April," she called, waving her over.

"Hey what?" Ram said, smoothing down his hair.   

April walked over, dumping her bag and violin case on the table. "Oh hey guys."

"Know about the Parson house?" Tanya asked, ignoring Ram's obvious glaring. 

"Isn't it supposed to be haunted?" she asked. "Is this for 'unsolved'?" April was a fan - she'd been hinting she wanted to be part of the show for ages. Tanya was all for it, but she was always busy with taking care of her Mum. 

"Potentially," Tanya answered, grinning with a sense of well-earned victory. "But, poor little Ram is too scared."

"We all know about the legend of the Stone House and Faceless Alice," Ram said. "She wants us to stay overnight."

"Sounds cool," April said, taking the free seat between Matteusz and Ram. She was fearless, but as they say 'opposites attract'. 

"Maybe," Matteusz suggested with a smile, "you could go. You love 'Unsolved' and you helped with short films last summer with me and Charlie." 

April being Charlie's friend first knew Matteusz pretty well - he was the one who introduced her to Ram. Their short film 'Nightvisting' was good, even if Tanya didn't completely understand it. (It was about folk music and first kisses and an alien metaphor that was kinda angsty.)

"Yeah. I guess." April looked over at Ram who was looking at the empty notebook in front of him, slightly flushed. "I guess it's your call."

Matteusz made a subtle heart shape whilst April wasn't looking and pointed at Ram; Tanya got the hint (not that she needed it). "Love to have you on. A friend of Marlie is a friend of 'Unsolved' and you're wanted to do one for ages." 

"Is a shame that Ram is not going to the Parson house then," Matteusz said, with the kind of falsely innocent voice he used whenever he was up to trouble. (He was too charming. Tanya had to keep him behind camera or Charlie would have a lot of competition.)

"Real shame," Tanya agreed.

"Oh, I wasn't trying to replace you!" April protested, misreading Ram's silence. "You're really funny on 'Unsolved'."

"She was joking."

"Oh."

"But we actually would love to have you." Tanya wasn't just trying to wind Ram up; April was a good friend. "You know, if you want to poke around in an old abandoned house next weekend and if you're free."

"Sounds great." April smiled. "Mum's actually visiting my cousins next weeked! Do you really mean it?"

Tanya nodded. "We're friends April. You can bring your violin and play sad music when Ram whines." 

"Hey!" 

April laughed it off. "Sounds like fun. You guys are the best. I have a violin lesson now actually but I'll text you." 

Ram waited till she walked off. "What the hell Tanya?"

"You're evil, Matteusz," she said. "I love it."

"It's going to be an interesting finale for sure."


	2. Unsolved: What's Coming Next?

Tanya can never decide if the research or the exploration is her favourite part. The nerdy part of her - Ram's words not her own - liked digging into the past and finding the history. Looking beyond the urban myths and the ghost stories to find the facts and the truth; Tanya loved facts. (She was a nerd.)

Checking the battery was full and that the red recording light was beeping, she sat down in her makeshift office - a borrowed corner of her maths teacher classroom - and started filming her intro. (She needed Matteusz help at first but now she could manage. It made her weirdly proud how much she'd grown.)

"It's that time again guys. Unsolved. And this is a big one: the finale. Don't worry, it's just the 2017 finale. If we survive next year before the end of the world or whatever, season 2 of 'unsolved' is coming." Tanya grinned. "No Charlie this week unfortunately. He wanted to be boring and celebrate his birthday instead of co-host. So, it's just me."

"For the finale me, Ram and a special guest, will be investigating the Parson House, locally known as the Stone House. In 1957, Alice Parson moves into Shoreditch, into a house now infamously known as the Stone House..."

Tanya explained the history, of how Alice Parsons had a baby at 21 and lost her, of how she lived alone as the house rotted around her, how the house had been abandoned for two years with the rumours of her spirit haunting it. It was eery, mostly because of how close the house actually was. Tanya used to walk by it to get to school before Ram started giving her lifts.

"So, does the spirit of Alice Parson haunt the house she used to live in, still at unrest because of her lost daughter? Or is it an urban legend, remaining... unsolved?"

Tanya left a dramatic pause and then picked up her phone. "Now... onto your tweets about the show."

She typed in '#unsolvedsquad' and scrolled though, looking for questions. It was weird having her own hashtag, even if it was yet to start trending on twitter (maybe after the final episode).

"From Sam 'Tanya rotating slowly to look™ at the camera when Ram yelled ghost was a mood'." She laughed. "See, that was me looking at Matteusz because Ram's really extra when we're filming and it's really funny. Plus it's me and Matteusz against Ram. The true gay agenda."

Her favourite meme - Ram's expression when the spider scared him - kept showing up. It had been Tanya's lock screen for three weeks. There was a lot of tweets about 'Marlie' too - Charlie had held his hand or something. It was typical 'unsolved' tweets, not what she was looking for today.

She paused in her scrolling, smiling at the cute red head in the icon. "Oh, here's one from Clover: 'you got to meet Bill Potts! I almost died when I saw the photo'. Well, Clover, I almost died when I met Bill. She's so sweet. I got to meet her twice actually, in one day. She remembered my name too. It was so fun! So umm shout out to Matteusz and Charlie because they got my 'Event Horizon' ticket upgraded as a gift. That's solidarity."

Tanya smiled. She did love her friends, all ghost-related banter aside.

"So, last question: this one is from Amira. 'So happy to see you guys with new equipment! Where do you find out how to use it?' I use wiki how to be honest. And we buy the equipment from amazon and stuff. We're actually some new stuff next year because -surprise! - our next video has a sponsor that I'll talk about more next time."

"So, stay tuned for the final of Unsolved."

Tanya turned off the camera and packed up her recording stuff into her backpack. She had ghost busting to do (and editing).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another reference to @evilqueenofgallifrey fics aka 'Event Horizontal' from 'The Law of Gravitation'. It's really cute you should check it out. 
> 
> If you liked this, leave a comment please! :)


	3. Unsolved: What's wrong with Ram's grammar?

**Tanya Adeola** **added** **April MacLean** **to ‘Ghostbusters but with less straight people’**

 

**(4:57)**

**Genius: Welcome to our secret lair. Sorry about Rams grammar.**

**April: Trust me, I’m used to Rams grammar. We share a desk in english.**

**April: I’m impressed by the name guys**

**Genius: It was a team effort.**

**The Artsy One: Hi April!**

**April: Charlie!!!**

**The Artsy One: Tanya said you’d be helping her film! I’m proud.**

**Genius: How’s mars charles??**

**The Artsy One: You know I’m in Sheffield.**

**The Artsy One: It’s so boring. I miss my boyfriend.**

**Matti: Miss you too Kochanie**

**Genius: Don’t flirt on my group chat. We’re planning serious business.**

**Matti: No way you kept a straight face typing that**

**Genius: Never in my life.**

**Genius: And I’m offended by the implications.**

**Matti: Forgive me**

**Genius: You’re without your boyfriend and I know what that does to you.**

**April: I swear they’re perfect for each other. All they do is talk about each other.**

**Genius: I know it’s paiNFUL.**

**The Artsy One: Hey! I haven’t mentioned Matteusz to anyone today…**

**Genius: Wow.**

**The Artsy One: I wish I could. My family keeps asking about when I’ll get a girlfriend.**

**Genius: I’m sorry.**

**Matti: That is bad Charlie. I’ll call you later.**

**April: Are you okay?**

**The Artsy One: I’ll survive. Good luck ghost hunting :-)**

**Genius: Back to the ghosts then.**

**Genius: … but before we plan times where’s @** **Ram Singh**

**Smart-Jock Paradox: whats wrong wth my grammar guys**

**Matti: There he is**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Group Chat shenanigans.
> 
> I have to finish this so here I go :)


	4. Unsolved: who’s Katie?

**Tanya-the-Genius** **uploaded** **Unsolved: Exploring The Parson House (⅔)** **(23:30)**

 

* * *

 

“This is creepy,” Ram managed to conclude before any of them have ever gotten out of his car. 

“Broken windows - check. Ivy - check. Ghost stories - check,” April replied, grinning back at Tanya. “This is going to be so much fun.” 

“I like her,” Tanya said, pulling on her bag and stepping out Ram’s car. “Come on team. Even you Ram. The dark isn’t that scary.” 

“Thanks,” he muttered sarcastically. 

Tanya couldn’t help but notice he helped April with her ridiculously heavy bag (they were only staying for one night); she smiled at him and Ram looked pleased with himself. 

“They are sweet,” Matteusz whispered to her, which Tanya wholeheartedly agreed with. 

Tanya most definitely on the skeptic side of the ghost spectrum but the the Stone House is unsettling. It’s got the dark energy that Ram was always going on about. It was partially overtook by plants and rust, even if it had only been empty for the last two years. 

The key for the front door is in Tanya’s pocket. It felt odd to unlock the door for the first time in over a year. 

The hallway was completely dark and dusty. 

“I take the fun comment back,” April said, inching slightly closer to Ram and switching on her torch to shine light into the darkness. 

“The guy I spoke to said the power should be working. Turned it on just for us,” Tanya explained, reaching for the light switch. The first switch did nothing but a second light in the living room flickered on. 

“If we die-“

“Drama queen,” Tanya interrupted, trying to ignore the uneasy vibe the house gave. 

“We could die at any moment,” Ram said, crossing his arms. 

“Optimistic,” Tanya heard Matteusz mutter from behind them. 

Aprils laughter cut through the darkness. “We could die at any moment - title of your-” 

“We’ve all seen Brooklyn Nine Nine,” Tanya interrupted, looking over at Matteusz and mastering one of her iconic looking straight into the cameras soul moments. “And if you haven’t, you should. But, my Mum watches my videos so-” 

“Your Mum is okay with you hanging out in haunted buildings but not pop culture references?” April asked.

“She trusts Matteusz to keep an eye on me,” Tanya explained. She looked down at the cracks in the floor and tried to avoid getting dust on her white trainers. “She likes you more than Ram,” she added. 

“I believe that,” April agreed, which made Ram pout behind her. 

“I can’t help it if I’m likable.” 

“And I’m not?” 

_ “And I’m not?”  _ Tanya mimicked. 

They fell silent as Tanya hovered in the doorway of the living room. She wasn’t afraid of the houses they went to but there was something so sinister about the flickering light. 

“It’s just a room,” she whispered to herself and then stepped into the lounge and repeated it louder so the other three would follow her in. 

April shone a light onto a wall full of dolls. They were the old fashioned type with glass eyes and string braids in the ratty hair. “Mrs Parsons couldn’t just buy Barbie dolls or something?” 

“I never liked Barbie dolls when I was a kid,” Tanya commented, frowning at their identical blank expression, “didn’t like what they represented.” 

“Unrealistic female body standards?” April asked. 

“Nope, Barbie dolls just weren’t very diverse,” Tanya answered. “That too. I played Scrabble instead like a normal kid.” 

April laughed again. The sound made Ram and Matteusz turn around from the corner they were poking around in. 

“Find anything? Ectoplasm?” 

Ram rolled his eyes. “Just more dolls.” 

“She had a daughter,” Matteusz said, picking one up and waving it at Ram; he winced at the dusty toy and batted it away.

“So, Mrs Parsons buys toys for a daughter she never met. That’s kinda sad.” 

Classic April; Tanya felt a bit bad she wasn’t empathetic enough. “Yeah.” 

“No, no, no,” Ram groaned. “She’s going to have a haunted nursery. My worst nightmare.” 

“Other than wearing a shirt without the sleeves hacked off,” Tanya teased. He was so trying to impress April but she hadn’t looked at his biceps once. (As far as she had noticed anyway.) 

“It’s in case of an emergency.” 

“Sure,” Tanya teased. It was nice to going back to laughing. It combated the creepiness oozing out of the cracks of the Parson House. 

“Want to go poke around in the creepy kitchen?” 

“April, I thought you’d never ask.” 

“Now who is flirting?” Matteusz whispered to her, which Tanya immediately agreed with. 

Ram led the way into the kitchen; he was so much braver today and the reason why was following him. April seemed less anxious than him, which was kind of relief. It was nice to have someone else to make fun of Ram with. 

Ram screamed, which was startling enough that Tanya almost knocked the camera out of Matteusz’ hand as she backed into him. 

“Are you okay?” he asked, “Tan?” 

“Yeah, yeah,” she felt around for her touch and switched it back on. 

“Ram,” April called from in front of them. “Is it a ghost?” 

“No.” Tanya let out a sigh of relief: he was  _ okay _ . “I just… don’t laugh but I just saw a spider.” 

It felt kinda good to laugh about it.

 

* * *

Tanya regretted agreeing to stay overnight from the moment she stepped from the final, creaky step into the upstairs hallway. None of the light upstairs worked so they relied on the limited torchlight and a streetlight that was literally flickering. 

The only thing keeping her together was the fact she refused to freak out more than Ram. 

“Nice,” Matteusz said, getting a wider shot with the camera. He was sort of fearless which Tanya had all kinds of respect for. (She suspected he brought a Holy Bible with them which was why; still pretty badass. Or maybe there was some kind of badassery you got from already going through the worst case scenario.) 

“I’d give it two stars. No power but with a little dusting it’d be pretty good.” 

“You’re literally Cinderella. Do birds sing for you and comb your hair?” Ram joked, too distracted by staring hearts at April to be freaked out. 

“What’s wrong with my hair?” April asked, flattening her neat ponytail. 

“Nothing!” 

“So-“ Tanya intervened, for all of their goods, “do you want to try and talk to Alice? We have a high frequency radio that is meant to pick up ghosts voices.” She threw it at Ram. “Thanks to our lovely sponsors, Diet Coke.” 

April laughed. “I love Diet Coke.” 

“I know,” Matteusz replied and they stared a look like it was an inside joke. 

“Shall we go into the main bedroom?”

“Sure,” Tanya made a show of rolling her eyes, “lead the way. And be careful for any spiders.”

“Shut up, it was a  _ big _ spider.” 

“Sure,” April agreed, still grinning at him, “and the way you screamed really reflected it’s reign of terror.” 

Tanya couldn’t help but notice Ram didn’t tell her to shut up. 

Alice Parson’s old bedroom was mostly empty. There was an old bed frame with a stripped back mattress and a few half-packed boxes. They lounged across the edge of the bed as Matteusz set up a few extra cameras and audio recorders. Ram flicked through the channels on the spirit box. 

“Hello,” he said, clearly hesitant, “is anyone here?” 

Just the horrifying noise. It was kinda a relief. 

“Alice? Are you here?” 

There was a half formed garble. “Here that?” Ram insisted. “I heard the word ‘ _ Alice _ ’.” 

“I heard nothing.” 

“Alice Parsons, are you present? Say something to us, you seem pretty nice. We mean no disrespect. Just like… do something.” 

There was another half-garble. 

“She said ‘beware’!”

“What about a sentence Ally? Huh. Say, ‘Ram Singh is a baby’.” 

“Don’t tell her my name!” Ram protested but nothing happened. 

“One last chance Ally. Say your name.” 

There was a whole minute of static silence before Tanya gave Ram a pointed look. “What about your daughter? Can you tell us her name?” 

A crackle. Enough to convince Ram. “She said ‘Katie’.” 

“Her daughter was called ‘Catherine’,” April said, “a nickname?”

“Or, it’s nothing and Rams a fool.” Tanya switched off the spirit box. “Better luck next season Ram.” 

He sighed. “Will you ever believe?” 

“Only if I see with my own eyes.” 


	5. Unsolved: Why Are We Here Again?

**Tanya-the-Genius uploaded Unsolved: the Spirits of Parson House (3/3) (32:45)**

 

* * *

 

After another hour of exploring the house and filming, the camera started to beep, indicating it was running out of charge. Matteusz plugged it in the only room with working sockets (per Tanya’s own request) and they all got comfy as possible in the living room. It was the biggest room in the house and since no one wanted to split up as the night progressed and the shadows seemed to consume most of the house. It was undoubtedly horrible, up there with the abandoned hospital (who abandons a hospital anywhere?); she was glad for the company.

“This place is weird,” April said, stretching along the sofa. “Where did you get the idea to ghost hunt anyway?”

“I wanted to make a parody and then the history of these kind of places-” Tanya gestured to the bleakness of the room, “scared me half to death. So I wanted to see if it really was haunted.”

“And?”

“Nothing more then creaky floors. Or maybe the ghosts are just racist.”

“That’s a clickbait title.”

They all looked up as the door creaked but it was only Matteusz. Of course; still it has made her jump.

“Sorry,” he said, frowning.

Matteusz never frowned - clearly something was up with Charlie.

“I just want him to come back,” he said, even if none of them had asked.

“Have you had the joy of meeting Kate yet?” April asked.

“She does not like me.”

April nodded along. ”I’ve never seen her smile. Poor Charlie.”

Tanya sometimes forget that April and Charlie were like, actual best friends for life. They’d both grown up in Sheffield together until April had moved away. Charlie himself only moved to London last year. The two had brought a change in group dynamic but Tanya had to admit she liked the change; it was nice having more than two friends to hang out with.

“Yeah,” Matteusz agreed and the two shared a look that left Tanya with no doubt that they cared about Charlie the most in the world. He probably had more to say about Charlie’s well being but didn’t add anything. “Yeah, poor Kochanie.”

Usually _this_ didn’t happen. Usually it was just the three of them hanging out in a creepy house. With the cameras off for a little while, they let themselves relax. In theory, they should have been napping because Tanya had plans to investigate in the middle of the night - Ram had the ridiculous idea that ghosts liked the night time best. But this, huddling together and talking, was new. It was a nice reminder that they were not just a team but real, _actual_ friends.

 

* * *

 

Tanya was woken up by Matteusz at approximately two am.

“Go away.” She batted away the phone away and closed her eyes.

“Trust me, you will want to see this.”

It took a minute for her eyes to adjust to the darkness until she saw what Matteusz had woken her up for - Ram and April. She was lying asleep on Ram’s chest on the only sofa in the living room. Whilst Tanya and Matteusz (if he had slept - he looked tired and concerned) had been stuck on the uncomfortable wooden floor, Ram had fallen asleep on the sofa and April had fallen asleep on him; April had her arms wrapped around him.

“That’s so cute.”

“I know.”

Tanya checked her phone **(02:39)** and then took some photos (partly for blackmail, partly because it _was cute)_.

“How come you’re up?” Tanya asked, wiggling out from her Harry Potter sleeping bag. “I set the alarm for the witching hour.”

“Do not laugh but I was told not to sleep here. My Babcia watches your videos. She send me a long email on spirits.” He looked kind of embarrassed about that fact, which was undeniably adorable.

“My Mum makes me write essays on my videos so it doesn’t stump my interpersonal development.” Tanya rolled her eyes. “And Ram’s Dad has been hinting he wants to do a live stream for ages. We all have overbearing par- family. Anyway, want to wake up the love birds?”

“You say me and Charlie are sappy,” Matteusz said, shaking his head, “love birds. Unironically.”

“I’m a secret romantic. You should have seen me after I met Bill Potts. I was writing poetry like Sappho reborn.”

“You need a girlfriend.”

“Tell me about it,” Tanya agreed. “Ohh, I say we call them Macsingh.”

“Shall we wake them up then?”

“Yeah,” Tanya said. She threw a pillow at them. “Come on guys, we have go ghostbusting.”

April and Ram looked at each other.

“I can explain!”

“At least that’s not unsolved.

* * *

 

_“Despite our overnight stay, we never saw Faceless Alice. Whilst this home and her life is full of tragedy, whether Alice Parson’s unhappy spirit remains is still… unsolved.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Exams start next week so looks like my last update in a while. Hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> Comments and support welcome!

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to do a ghost hunting or youtuber au for ages. Probably more suited for Halloween not Christmas though. 
> 
> Lots of references to 'Stone House' one of the Class novels (& my personal favourite). 
> 
> Let me know what you think!


End file.
